The owner of a Hauppauge restaurant said Monday that a desperate appeal from the mother of a burglar caught on a viral video eating bananas and other food inside the empty eatery convinced him not to pursue criminal charges.

“I took pity on his mother,” said John Robertson, 53, the owner of the Adams Avenue restaurant, The Sexy Salad. “She called me in a panic. She said ‘my son was the banana guy.’ ”

The video showed the burglar, who police did not identify, eating inside the restaurant at about 1:45 a.m. Saturday before urinating into a garbage can and falling asleep on the floor.

Man broke into Hauppauge eatery, ate, then slept
A man burglarized The Sexy Salad restaurant in Hauppauge, eating food and urinating in a garbage can before falling asleep on the floor early Saturday morning, Dec. 18, 2016, Suffolk County police said. Although the man left a New York State driver's license and a watch at the restaurant at 160 Adams Ave. during the 1:45 a.m. burglary, a police spokeswoman said. Sunday morning, the man's identity remained unknown and no additional details were immediately available. (Credit: Stringer News Service)

Sign up for the Power on Trial newsletter

Suffolk police would not comment about whether the burglar had a criminal record but Robertson said they told him the man’s record was clean.

“Besides, it was partly my vendor’s fault. A delivery person was negligent and didn’t lock a door,” he said. “It’s not like the kid was walking around with a crowbar. He was drunk, out of it. I didn’t want to ruin his life.”

Robertson declined to identify the burglar.

John Robertson, outside his Hauppauge restaurant on Dec. 19, 2016, said he won't pursue charges against a man caught on a viral video eating, urinating and sleeping inside the eatery after business hours. Photo Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara